Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Pope John Paul II, receiving bishops this morning from the Episcopal Conference of the Indian Ocean (CEDOI), invited "Christian people to live the just-begun Year of the Eucharist as an intense time of encounters with Christ," and stressed the need for well formed priests and laity, and the “harmonious development” of families.

Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Pope John Paul II, in a meeting with Teresian Carmelite Missionaries this morning, re-affirmed that the challenge of consecrated life is "to make Christ present in the world through personal witness," and that “we can be inspired by the Eucharist” to fulfill this challenge.

Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- During a meeting today of the Coordinating Council Between Pontifical Academies, founded by Pope John Paul II in 1995, Archbishop Leonardo Sandri read the Holy Father’s address to the meeting, whose theme was “The Way of Beauty,” in which the Pope spoke of the artistic patrimony inspired by the beauty of Christ.

Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The former editor of the National Catholic Register, Francis X. Maier, says millions of Democrats across the country voted Republican in the last presidential election because they did not recognize in the party the traditional values, for which it once stood. His comment was published recently in the Rocky Mountain News of Colorado.

Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- A poll conducted by Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper reveals that Italians are overwhelmingly opposed to the notion of “same-sex marriage” and even more so to the idea of homosexual couples adopting children.

Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera, reminded believers this week that the resurrection of Christ “drives Christians to be dynamic and bold, free and open, freed from the slavery to material things and from the sloth of today’s world.” During Sunday Mass at the Archdiocesan Cathedral, the Cardinal said, “Our life should be that of a pilgrim on a continuous journey, leaving our home in order to arrive at our definitive city, with intermediary stages. We are all aware of the Biblical symbolism of the ‘foreigner’ applied to Christians who live in the present time and space, yearning to return to their definitive home.”

Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The latest edition of the official Catholic magazine of the Archdiocese of Havana, “Palabra Nueva,” called on Cubans to banish violence from the culture, because “to prevail with force and violence through the imposition of fear is no triumph as human beings.”

Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, called on all Peruvians this week to learn to draw close to the mystery of the Eucharist, to prepare themselves to receive Christ and to live in true communion.

Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The president of the Bishops Conference of Bolivia and Archbishop of Santa Cruz, Cardinal Julio Terrazas, called on candidates for the upcoming local elections on December 5 to express their commitments to defend life and human dignity.The Cardinal exhorted candidates to refrain from mudslinging and making promises “they are not going to keep.”

Nov 9, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is among the liturgical events to be presided over by Pope John Paul II between now and the end of the year.